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OCTOBER 2024 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 39 smaller footprints. And like the modern smart phone, their smaller size doesn't mean down- sized capabilities. Even the most space con- strained labs can make use of powerful, high- resolution, real-time X-ray inspection tools. "I can't afford it." Once again, this may be true, but if it's been a while since you've explored X-ray system cost, hold that thought. I'm not going to sug- gest that X-ray machines have been subject to Moore's law, but some highly capable systems might surprise you with their relatively short return on investment (ROI). Speaking of ROI, depending on your industry, it may be fair to ask, "Can I afford not to have an X-ray system." For high-reliability products such as automo- tive, aerospace, and medical devices, letting a single defective part reach consumers can be far more costly than the price of incorporating robust inspection into your manufacturing and quality assurance best practices. I know, the guy who makes X-ray machines says X-ray everything. But just because it is admittedly self-serving, it doesn't mean I'm wrong. Stay curious, set aside what you think you know about X-ray machines, and yes, X-ray everything. SMT007 Dr. Bill Cardoso is CEO of Creative Electron. Thanks to advances in microchips, today's smartphones are so powerful they would have been considered supercomputers in the early 1990s. But the rising ubiquity of artificial intelli- gence and the Internet of Things—the vast net- work of connected devices that have enabled everything from smart grids to smart homes—will require a new generation of microchips that not only outpace previous records of miniaturization and performance but are also more energy effi- cient than current technologies. As part of this effort, Berkeley Lab scien- tists are working to revolutionize the tran- sistor, one of the fundamental components in computer microchips, for superior per- formance and energy efficiency. Recent work has shown the promise of new tran- sistor materials that use an unusual prop- erty called negative capacitance to enable more efficient memory and logic devices. When a material has negative capaci- tance, it can store a greater amount of electrical charge at lower voltages, which is the opposite of what happens in con- ventional capacitive materials. Now, a multidisciplinary team of researchers have developed an atomistic understanding of the origins of negative capacitance, enabling them to enhance and customize this phenomenon for spe- cific device applications. The advance was made possible by FerroX, an open-source, 3D simula- tion framework that the team custom-designed for the study of negative capacitance. Their work was reported in the journal Advanced Electronic Materials. (Source: Berkeley Lab) New Computer Simulations Help Scientists Advance Energy-efficient Microelectronics